I remember the horror felt in the United States by the launch of the first Sputnik. It was as if our whole nation had been judged and found wanting in terms of the science education given to my generation. We were all of us certain that Communists would parachute from satellites and take over our country.

People who did not live through those times usually don't have a good grasp on just how serious the cold war and the arms race were. Those of us who were in school from about 1952 or 1953 through hmmm, let's see, at least the Cuban missile crisis will never forget practicing taking cover under desks and in enclosed hallways, as if that would do one damned bit of good in the event of a nearby a-blast.

We all remember the national despondency when our first three or four attempts to put a satellite in orbit failed live on national television, just as we thrilled to hear JFK's challenge to "send a man to the moon and return him safely to Earth before the decade is out."

Oh, the memories of Sputnik! My mother was young...twenty-five years old; I was seven. She made golden sputniks to hang on our Christmas tree, golden sputniks to hang from the dining room light; she had sputnik-making parties, glue everywhere and jars of gold paint and glitter. She embraced sputniks and the excitement of the period. I really didn't experience the fallout from Sputnik until I was thirteen-years old in Fairfax County where I encountered 'the new math'--and I remember distinctly liking the new math much better than the 'old.' Cannot imagine why. It was there when the Cuban missile crisis occurred and I began to hear about bomb shelters and the possibility of World War III. That's when the 'Russian nightmares' began for me.

* Subject to this caveat, Capfka. It can never be "seen as kind" or "almost kind" to cause suffering to any sentient life, whether a dog or a human. But sometimes such measures can and must be tolerated when they are undertaken for therapeutic reasons, or, in the case of animal research, to advance human civilization or human health.

I hope you will understand any suffering I may have caused you personally, or anyone else on this Board, in that light, Capfka.

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